1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an emergency locking seat belt retractor of a motor vehicle which instantly locks the seat belt when sensing a predetermined degree of shock applied thereto, and more particularly to an emergency locking seat belt retractor of a so-called deceleration sensing type which instantly inhibits the withdrawal of the seat belt upon sensing a predetermined degree of deceleration of the vehicle as in a case of vehicle collision.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hitherto, as emergency locking seat belt retractors, there have been proposed a deceleration sensing type and a belt movement sensing type. The former is one which locks the belt upon sensing a deceleration of the vehicle, while the latter is one which locks the belt upon sensing a rapid withdrawing movement of the belt. It is generally known that the former, that is the deceleration sensing type retractor, has a quicker locking operation than the latter.
In the deceleration sensing type retractor, a so-called "G-sensor" is employed which is arranged to be vertically positioned. However, in the conventional deceleration sensing type retractor, it is usual that the G-sensor is fixedly set in the retractor proper. Thus, when mounting the retractor to the vehicle, the retractor must be mounted so that the G-sensor is vertically positioned. However, as is known, the size and/or dimensions of the mounting space provided in the vehicle for mounting thereon the retractor varies depending on the type of the vehicle, so that it is necessary to produce a specially designed seat belt retractor for each vehicle. Of course, this increases the cost of production of the retractor.